Has anyone ever used digital backdrops

lbowman920

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I was wondering if anyone had ever used digital backdrops and or created your own. Like when taking the background out of a photo using photoshop and replacing it with a digital backdrop.
 
i have heard of this technique where you take a pic of your subject in front of either a blue screen or green screen. then you select the background and replace it with a digital background.

i haven't tried it, but what concerns me most about it is the background lighting. can it be made to look real since you would be adding it in PP?
 
forgot to mention that this would not be on any professional photos as I am a newbie here just starting out, this would just be for fun with pictures of my kids so their toys, bedroom, etc would not be the background of every picture
 
The technique mentioned by That One Guy is called keying or keying-out the background. This is a frequently used technique in video animation, such as a news cast.

On a professional set, the background would be as evenly lit as possible to allow for easier keying-out in the post-processing stages. Although not too common with still photos, a keyed out video can look fairly realistic in a news cast and very much so in movies such as 300.
 
ahhhh i see what you mean now.

i have done that with some of my snapshots. i just did a quick mask in PS.

i only used a solid color though.


like this one

2198414036_77fdeacde3.jpg
 
It can be done...but it takes skill to get it to look believable.

First, you have to watch the lighting...it should at least appear that the same light that is hitting the subject...is illuminating the background.

Also, the actual extraction of the subject is a real skill. Using a chroma key background will help. Also, the less wispy or spiky hair that you have to deal with...the better. The rest is usually pretty easy but the hair is always a tough one.
 
Thanks everyone, I am so excited I am reading everything online trying to learn photography and my imagination is getting ahead of me - I want to be able to do it all now LOL
 
I have borrowed clouds and sky from one pic to another, when the sky on one was blown. I have only done that with my old P&S cameras pics though.
 
I've played with it as an additional exercise in my online photography course. Its fun, but I think many purists are against it. I must say, after having done it, and seen the results (they are pretty good!), I side with the purists... lol.

Muselin and other backdrops are in my future.

2230032356_61df611712_o.jpg
2230032378_1580d47ca4_o.jpg
 
I have borrowed clouds and sky from one pic to another, when the sky on one was blown.

I have done that too.

I have done some green screen stuff with video before but not in photos.
 
I was wondering if anyone had ever used digital backdrops and or created your own. Like when taking the background out of a photo using photoshop and replacing it with a digital backdrop.

Sure. Create a backdrop or total scene in a 3D art program that does a good job with textures and lighting. Lightwave and some fractal programs are pretty good in that regard. Select your subject from one of your photos and add it into the scene. As some have already indicated, the challenge is matching lighting, shadows, colour temperature, size and perspective of your addition and the final scene.

skieur
 
I've done it in video many times... with the right programs, its a LOT easier than in photography, at least with the level of expeience I have.
 

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